Beautiful and Vibrant @ 91

My father's older sister...my godmother...my aunt...turned 91 the other day. Isn't she beautiful?

 

Beautiful and vibrant.

 

She has traveled the world at large, gone to places most of us will only dream of. She raised 3 sons and loved 5 granddaughters well.

 

She was 10 years old when my father was born and she remembers sewing him little rompers to wear and having him tag along to her girl scout meetings.

 

I look at my 10 year old girlie. We sewed an apron together once...once. I don't think we ever finished it. Times were different back in 1931. They didn't have a Wal-Mart. America had entered a deep, dark Depression. Little girls wore aprons. Grandpa was a barber and Granny took odd jobs when she could. Older sisters sewed and took care of baby brothers.

 

It empowered them. It made them into vibrant young women.

 

Nanny Ruth still goes to the local gym to exercise and swim. She's very intune to Facebook. She is not afraid to keep learning and stay in touch. She is as open-minded to the changes of today as she is to the goodness of the past.

 

On her birthday she wrote:

 

"Today I am reading by computer some of my favorite 'old' poems such as
 'Old Ironsides' and 'The Highwayman' (very sad). I still remember them by heart (from my literature class in high school). Of course, I did forget a few words here and there."

 

I'm thinking what a treasure that is. Her mind is still alive and full.

 

What a gift it is to give our children prolific literature and poems during their younger years...thoughts and ideas and words that will stand by them in their winter of life when everything else is stripped away from them. Words that will keep their minds alive and clicking and vibrant well past the years of training.

 

I know there have been times my husband and children have groaned with the weight of my bookshelves. There were times I have almost buried them with my suggestions and recommendations of "Here's another book you must read!" "I want you to read this." "Have you read this yet?"

 

Reading my 91 year old godmother's words put my anxiety to rest. There are never enough words, ideas, thoughts to share with my children. Never! We must share!

 

Especially when I look and listen to today's world. The world is full of ugly, heartless, distastefulness.

 

More than likely it was in 1931 as well.

 

We must replace it with:

• independent work of our hands
• quality literature and poems
• responsibility for and to others
• vibrant expectations

I hope and pray that I'm as beautifully alive and vibrant when I'm 91.

For today, I'm reading "The Highwayman" with my 10 year old.